Hello

[Fall]

I am new to this forum. I live in Europe. Male. Age ~55. Married. No obvious psycho-social problems. There may be alcohol induced depression, and I have always felt - from childhood - very little confidence in myself, almost mild sociophobia, which is explicable. Still though professionally I have been successful.

I have been drinking for ages, never during day time but late afternoon/early evening. At the moment I am trying to titrate Baclofen up I am at 4*10mg per day and alcohol down, usually around 1,3 pmille, rarely less than 1.

My main problem at the moment: I just can't make it to stay away from beer, some brandy, and light fruit wine. I am beginning to feel less interested in drinking, though. My mood is cold, sometimes a little aggressive.

In order to be able to sleep ~10 PM I take 2.5mg Zolpidem. In the morning there nowadays is NO hangover at all. I feel fresh and sober from 7AM onwards. This was never the case before.

The only unwanted side effect: beginning anorgasmia. Very irritating.
I wonder if this scheme titrating B up and A down will work and would be interested to read experiences from others.

Best regards to anybody who reads this. Thanks for your attention.:thanks:

[StuckinLA]

Hello

Welcome my friend. Anorgasmia is a somewhat common side effect. It can lessen and go away after a while. I don't know the British units, but it sounds like your intake is going down? Other folks will jump in, just keep checking this (your) thread. And I'll be back too, tomorrow.

[Fall]

Hello

Reply

StuckinLA;1699565 wrote: Welcome my friend. (...) I don't know the British units, but it sounds like your intake is going down? Other folks will jump in, just keep checking this (your) thread. And I'll be back too, tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for the very kind welcome. Good to know you'll be back. Generally the alcohol intake is going down: ~1.3 per thousand for months, sometimes less.

Before I started recording every unit with AlcoDroid (free and very precise) it must have been MUCH more. Everyday tremor, headache - and I couldn't even write by hand. Pretty bad. Compared to this I - nowadays - feel really much better. Still the alc-problem persists ...

Kindest regards. All the best to you from the other side of the Atlantic, I guess. Stuck in EU.

[Lostinspace]

Hello

Hi Fall :welcome: Titrating up on bac, while tapering down on alcohol, will definitely work if you give it some time. I did something similar. Although I forced myself, through sheer determination and willpower, to taper my disgustingly high liquor intake down to zero during the first two and a half weeks I was taking bac (this is not necessary). I stayed AF for five days before caving to the cravings, but was nonetheless drinking only a fraction of what I had been.

At that point, I was up to 120 mg (I titrated very quickly, though, and wouldn't recommend this to others). Anyway, I stayed at this dose and the same lower level of drinking for over a month. At 120 mg, the cravings were much lower, and I often drank out of habit rather than actual cravings, but I still couldn't find it in myself to quit entirely. Now I'm up to 160 mg and the cravings are almost absent. In a little over two weeks since reaching this dose, I've only had strong cravings three times, and only drank once.

I'm still not quite at my switch, but I am getting close enough to say with confidence that it does get easier as you go up in dose, and the longer you're on bac. That's something people kept telling me in the beginning, and I've found to be true. Success with baclofen is a matter of both a high enough dose AND enough time on bac. So yes, it will work for you, too. You're still fairly new to bac and at a low dose. But the fact that you're already feeling less interest in drinking, and are able to cut down, shows that it's starting to work for you. Keep posting. You're in the right place

[Fall]

Hello

Hi Lostinspace,

That DOES sound interesting and supports my way. Yesterday - while still on Baclofen 40mg/d - I lost in the late afternoon (usual drinking start) almost complete interest in alcohol - no real craving.

And then my wife asked why I didn't want to come out into the garden which is synonymous to ... boozing. And what did I do? I went and drank more than usual for months: ~1.6 ‰.

My wife likes beer but she doesn't need it and she has no problem at all to stop ... then she just drinks juice.

What do I learn from this? One of these days I am just going to tell her that I take Baclofen, beginning to lose craving - and that I would not like to be "invited". We have got different "rituals" that I know from AF periods - some of them lasting months and one for two years.

Best. Fa.